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Indigenous Land Gardening

Redbird Willie, a land steward and manager at Heron Shadow Farm, and Sara Moncada, CEO of the Cultural Conservancy, at the Cultural Conservancy’s Heron Shadow Farm in Sebastopol. 2023. By permission from The Press Democrat (Beth Schlanker).

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“Fire is an important part of our community,” said Redbird Willie, a land steward and cultural fire practitioner in Sonoma County. “We don’t just include people, we include plants, animals, fire, water. They are members of our community and we have to treat them with respect and honor.”

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Wappo and Pomo Forest Stewardship Practices

Clint McKay leads local teens from North Bay Met Academy and Windsor Oaks Academy on a hike looking at native plants and sharing Traditional Ecological Knowledge with them, focusing on food sovereignty. Photo: Rose Hammock.

For at least 10,000 years before Europeans arrived, the Indigenous peoples of what is now Sonoma County tended the land to promote biodiversity and prevent destructive wildfires.

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Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo Land Gardening

Greg Sarris. Photo: Christopher Coughlin.

No part of the landscape was unknown to Indigenous Californians, and they managed their resources carefully.

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Learn more about Indigenous stewardship

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